A conversation with a blogger

Had my first face-to-face “meeting” with a blogger tonight. Because he wants to remain anonymous, he will be referred to now and from this point forward as his actual anonymous blogger name, Jibblescribbits.

I enjoyed it. “Jibbles” is a nice guy, a smart guy who lives in the Bay Area and we met at a local bar after tonight’s Avs-Sharks game.

Jibbles has penned an Avalanche blog for, I think, a couple years now or so. Among the several topics we discussed over some food and drink, the issue of blogging as it relates to the state of the newspaper business was probably the most extended. (That, and the continued debate over the merits of the Jose Theodore decision this summer by the Avs, and him in relation to Peter Budaj).

A lot of people think us newspaper guys hate bloggers, and everything they “stand” for. They’ve helped contribute to the sickness of the newspaper business and dumb down our society and are not much more than a forum for every yahoo with a keyboard, etc., etc. We view you as a disdainful nuisance, who are dragging the veritable mainstreamers like us into the mud with all of you.

Some do in my business think exactly that way of you, my blogger readers. Probably a lot of them, actually. While I’m a fierce fighter for the cause of newspapers and think they make people smarter who read them, in general, I have never minded bloggers. To me, bloggers are what letter-to-the-editor writers always were, only times 10, with a lot more cool technology to make their points.

The Avalanche is a team that has been graced with a few good bloggers. Mr. Jibbles is one, and then there’s Mile High Hockey, and a woman named Jori does a very good amount of stuff about the Avs and, especially, their prospects.

Jibbles wondered, early in our talk, if I viewed him and others as rivals or a “threat” to my business. Honest, I’ve never viewed it that way. I’ve really just thought of them like, “Oh, ok, here’s a person with their take on the Avs and here’s the way he/she is expressing themselves” and that’s great.

The big reason newspapers are having trouble right now isn’t because people are all flocking to some blog. It’s the loss of classified advertising to craigslist. That’s it, that’s the major, No. 1 reason and everything else is a far, distant second.

As I told Jibbles tonight, I went back into the Denver Post library a couple weeks ago and looked at a Nov. 1996 Sunday paper from November. There were….128 pages of classified ads in that paper. There are usually no more than 30 now. You think 100 lost, full pages of revenue isn’t a lot? It is. And my theory on that is that there was NO way to avoid a craigslist from doing what it did. A million other craigslists would have formed if the first one hadn’t, as it was a pretty obvious idea to use a site as kind of a swap meet warehouse for the things they could just put on an endless electronic billboard – instead of a 4×6 one made of cork, or paying $50 to put one in a newspaper.

So, when the stupid commenters who have tried to explain the problems in newspapers as one of political “bias” against their side of the spectrum, they only cover themselves in about 50 feet of piled high ignorance.

The lost classified pages are the difference in paper profit margins. Newspapers are starting to try a lot of new things in trying to get some of that money back – and I don’t think it will be too long before most papers start trying to charge for some or all of their online content to make up some of that lost money.

I can hear the bloggers now, “Good luck with that.” Only thing is, Jibbles wasn’t one of them tonight. He said he’d gladly pay a few bucks a month to access all the Denver Post sports material he currently gobbles every day for free. He intimated that he couldn’t live without it, and acknowledged that the daily newspaper, with its large staff of reporters, still can’t be beat for overall depth of coverage on all his favorite Denver teams.

But far from thinking of myself as indispensable, I in turn told him that many of the things I’ve read in his and other blogs have been useful to me, and I’ve enjoyed reading a lot of them. A couple of things done by the estimable David Driscoll-Carignan as a contributor to Jibbles and Mile High Hockey have opened my eyes and led me to pursuing that information further for my own purposes.

That’s what, I guess, is the good part about the introduction of bloggers. Some of you are really good and bring good stuff to the table, stuff we can all learn and share in.

So, while I think there are some bad blogs out there, there are some good ones too. Just like there are some good newspaper reporters and some bad ones. Some good papers and bad papers. In the end, it’s about how good you are as a writer and/or reporter. If you can start a blog and build a big following for yourself with your writing/reporting talent, then I won’t do anything more than tip my hat to you.

I’m not a bitter newspaper guy. I achieved a life’s dream getting this job and have been doing it for, overall, about 18 years now. Maybe if the explosion of blogs and troubles in the newspaper business happened when I was 25 and just starting out in the biz, maybe I’d be a little more defensive and angry sounding. But I’ve been doing what I like to do for a long time now, and I think I’ll still be doing it a while, in whatever form there is in this business. So, I’m happy with that, and I’ve never thought I would just hoard all this for myself.

Yeah, sometimes I’ll read a blog and think is a bunch of juvenile crap. And people know I cut a pretty sharp, cynical knife when I want to, so some of the blogs out there that people think are good and popular right now, I actually think they’re dumb. But that’s just me.

But the ones that have some good writing in them and some good insight, they’re a credit to the scene, and I love the fact that people can get involved now. I never wanted to be viewed as Moses, delivering sermons from the Mount about the Avalanche.

I think you could probably count on two hands, tops, the times I haven’t responded to a reader’s email to me over the years. That’s probably a couple thousand, at least, and the only ones I click delete on are the ones I’ve already heard from 500 times before and who started getting nasty and just plain stupid about some stuff.

So, bottom line, Jibbles: glad you’re around, along with the other Avs bloggers out there. You help keep me honest and on my toes, and let me know when I screw up – like that Forsberg retirement thing I had a couple weeks ago. Too long a story to detail here, but the bottom line is I threw something online too fast, after hearing from a person I trusted. That trust is in the past tense now, so live and learn.

OK, Poison is in concert here on HDNet, so obviously that means I have to shut things down now to watch the show.

AD, what’s up with all of the good blogs lately? I have to be honest, I check the Post every day for new Avalanche news, I scour the Avalanche blog sites every other day or so and go through everything. The only blog that ever managed to irritate me was yours. Not really sure why, you just came off like a bung-hole to me and I just despised every word you spewed through your finger tips.

I have to say I was being extremely judgemental based on little to nothing to judge you by, I don’t even quite understand why I was judging you because I try my hardest to avoid judging anyone….but something about your blogs honestly just lit a fire under my ass. I knew better than to ever post because I’d run my mouth, feel good about it for a week and accidently stumble across my post months later and feel like a complete tool.

I just hate how writers just thrive on reporting the bad & anything negative, which is why I try to avoid as much Canadian hockey coverage, because so much of it seems to be blatant attempts to hurt people.

Reading your blogs about Ambien, your support for Theodore & Brunette, and most recently your blog about the Avs player(s) having too good of a time after a terrible home loss & not wanting to name anyone made me open my eyes a bit and realize you’re a pretty cool guy. Sorry for being judgemental and having this boiling hate for you without cause – even though you never knew of it.

AD, what’s up with all of the good blogs lately? I have to be honest, I check the Post every day for new Avalanche news, I scour the Avalanche blog sites every other day or so and go through everything. The only blog that ever managed to irritate me was yours. Not really sure why, you just came off like a bung-hole to me and I just despised every word you spewed through your finger tips.

I have to say I was being extremely judgemental based on little to nothing to judge you by, I don’t even quite understand why I was judging you because I try my hardest to avoid judging anyone….but something about your blogs honestly just lit a fire under my ass. I knew better than to ever post because I’d run my mouth, feel good about it for a week and accidently stumble across my post months later and feel like a complete tool.

I just hate how writers just thrive on reporting the bad & anything negative, which is why I try to avoid as much Canadian hockey coverage, because so much of it seems to be blatant attempts to hurt people.

Reading your blogs about Ambien, your support for Theodore & Brunette, and most recently your blog about the Avs player(s) having too good of a time after a terrible home loss & not wanting to name anyone made me open my eyes a bit and realize you’re a pretty cool guy. Sorry for being judgemental and having this boiling hate for you without cause – even though you never knew of it.

Care to share where I can find the 3-4 bloggers you mentioned above? I’m an avid reader of everything put on the denverpost Avalanche page (I live in NYC now no print papers won’t work). I don’t look forward to the days where we have to pay for on line access, but it would be worth a small fee… And thanks for always responding to my emails over the years as an avalanche fan. Keep up the good work and thanks for all the info.

Care to share where I can find the 3-4 bloggers you mentioned above? I’m an avid reader of everything put on the denverpost Avalanche page (I live in NYC now no print papers won’t work). I don’t look forward to the days where we have to pay for on line access, but it would be worth a small fee… And thanks for always responding to my emails over the years as an avalanche fan. Keep up the good work and thanks for all the info.

I guess writing about bloggers and craigs list destroying newspapers worldwide is much more interesting than writing about another pathetic avs game. ya know ive noticed that you’ve stopped writing that much about the avs lately, is it just that they’re worthless or is it just delaying until some breaking news comes along for the avs.

I guess writing about bloggers and craigs list destroying newspapers worldwide is much more interesting than writing about another pathetic avs game. ya know ive noticed that you’ve stopped writing that much about the avs lately, is it just that they’re worthless or is it just delaying until some breaking news comes along for the avs.

I’ve sent you numerous emails and always get a reply; even if it’s just one or two words, it’s still a reply. Thanks for that.

Whether its here or at Mile High Hockey, I value the true opinion instead of the robotic reporting you get with other sites.

One thing that I really like about the Post’s Avalanche section is the daily dedication to the Avalanche. It seemed that in the RMN, there would be an article on the Avs but just as many articles on other teams. When I want to hear about another team, I’ll go to NHL.com.

I’ve sent you numerous emails and always get a reply; even if it’s just one or two words, it’s still a reply. Thanks for that.

Whether its here or at Mile High Hockey, I value the true opinion instead of the robotic reporting you get with other sites.

One thing that I really like about the Post’s Avalanche section is the daily dedication to the Avalanche. It seemed that in the RMN, there would be an article on the Avs but just as many articles on other teams. When I want to hear about another team, I’ll go to NHL.com.

Blogs did not kill newspapers (as AD pointed out, the internet is practically tailor-made for advertising, and without ad income, newspapers would have suffered even if blogs had never come into existence), but they just might kill the notion that good, objective journalism is something to aspire to.

There’s a huge difference between reporting what happened and telling what you saw, and that’s my main beef with much of Dater’s work (that and his inexplicable man-crush on Theodore/vendetta against Budaj). Even in Dater’s articles, the objectivity is often lacking (and for a beat writer to have a blog as opinionated as this just seems like a massive conflict of interest)… but to be fair he certainly isn’t alone in that, in either the blog world or the newspaper world. Woody Paige hasn’t written an unbiased article in decades; at least Dater actually writes about sports, rather than just using sports as the canvas on which to spew a few hundred words of sarcastic, snide venom a few times a week. How’s that for a backhanded compliment, AD?

As blogs become more and more prevalent, will good, old-fashioned reporting continue to go the way of the NHL tie? Some say “it’s only sports,” but it does matter. Blogs can be entertaining, but they’re somebody’s opinion, and opinion is not news reporting. Dater’s analogy to blogs being basically just letters-to-the-editor (but most often, clearly without an editor) is a good one… but we can’t forget the importance of that editor. The role of the media is often confusing and ill-defined, but to confuse bloggers with reporters is only going to make things worse. There must always be a role for great journalism, those who aspire to it, and a place to find it, whether it’s a newspaper or somewhere else.

Blogs did not kill newspapers (as AD pointed out, the internet is practically tailor-made for advertising, and without ad income, newspapers would have suffered even if blogs had never come into existence), but they just might kill the notion that good, objective journalism is something to aspire to.

There’s a huge difference between reporting what happened and telling what you saw, and that’s my main beef with much of Dater’s work (that and his inexplicable man-crush on Theodore/vendetta against Budaj). Even in Dater’s articles, the objectivity is often lacking (and for a beat writer to have a blog as opinionated as this just seems like a massive conflict of interest)… but to be fair he certainly isn’t alone in that, in either the blog world or the newspaper world. Woody Paige hasn’t written an unbiased article in decades; at least Dater actually writes about sports, rather than just using sports as the canvas on which to spew a few hundred words of sarcastic, snide venom a few times a week. How’s that for a backhanded compliment, AD?

As blogs become more and more prevalent, will good, old-fashioned reporting continue to go the way of the NHL tie? Some say “it’s only sports,” but it does matter. Blogs can be entertaining, but they’re somebody’s opinion, and opinion is not news reporting. Dater’s analogy to blogs being basically just letters-to-the-editor (but most often, clearly without an editor) is a good one… but we can’t forget the importance of that editor. The role of the media is often confusing and ill-defined, but to confuse bloggers with reporters is only going to make things worse. There must always be a role for great journalism, those who aspire to it, and a place to find it, whether it’s a newspaper or somewhere else.

As an Albuquerque resident, obviously i cannot buy the DP. that is, without going through the huge hassle of going to a boutique bookstore like Page One and buying an issue, whenever they get delivered. That takes away from the timeliness of news and the need to structure my day around getting to read 2-5 articles a day. Return on investment is not there for that.

If the DPO decided to charge admission to read this stuff, i would just keep going to TSN and The Hockey News until they charge. Then, i hope that someone will come up with a free and timely solution. Because flow of information in the internet should be free.

As an Albuquerque resident, obviously i cannot buy the DP. that is, without going through the huge hassle of going to a boutique bookstore like Page One and buying an issue, whenever they get delivered. That takes away from the timeliness of news and the need to structure my day around getting to read 2-5 articles a day. Return on investment is not there for that.

If the DPO decided to charge admission to read this stuff, i would just keep going to TSN and The Hockey News until they charge. Then, i hope that someone will come up with a free and timely solution. Because flow of information in the internet should be free.

I think that one reason that blogs have become so prevalent, and why I blog so much about sports, is that many people, myself included, have lost trust in mass media.

Bloggers often get cast as not having any CREDIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY, and I just don’t think that’s true. Having access to a locker room does not make anyone any more credible or accountable than me, particularly when most sports writing is opinion-based and meant for reaction rather than news.

Case in point – On March 11, the folks at Mile High Report ran a blog about Jay Cutler’s agent Bus Cook and his history and the notion that he is behind the Jay Cutler drama. In the following days, many dismissed that notion and said that the blogger doesn’t have “credibility” and “accountability”, yet there have been no less than 10 stories by “professional” journalists since then – some sourcing the MHR blog – that have taken that angle.

Another pet peeve of mine is this reporting of “according to ‘a source'”. That’s bogus. That, to me, smacks of a lack of credibility. If a guy is going to put himself out there, but won’t attach his name to it, then he is admitting that he isn’t credible. It is nothing more than an opinion.

I think that one reason that blogs have become so prevalent, and why I blog so much about sports, is that many people, myself included, have lost trust in mass media.

Bloggers often get cast as not having any CREDIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY, and I just don’t think that’s true. Having access to a locker room does not make anyone any more credible or accountable than me, particularly when most sports writing is opinion-based and meant for reaction rather than news.

Case in point – On March 11, the folks at Mile High Report ran a blog about Jay Cutler’s agent Bus Cook and his history and the notion that he is behind the Jay Cutler drama. In the following days, many dismissed that notion and said that the blogger doesn’t have “credibility” and “accountability”, yet there have been no less than 10 stories by “professional” journalists since then – some sourcing the MHR blog – that have taken that angle.

Another pet peeve of mine is this reporting of “according to ‘a source'”. That’s bogus. That, to me, smacks of a lack of credibility. If a guy is going to put himself out there, but won’t attach his name to it, then he is admitting that he isn’t credible. It is nothing more than an opinion.

Thanks for the blog, and as always everything you do. I honestly read this more than the main articles about the Avalanche. I enjoy the side stories, inside scoop and speculation. That to me is what blogging is all about, to find your personal niche market. Gravitate toward the blogs that are written in a style and with content you enjoy. Sometimes main articles in the newspaper can feel sterile and fit for mass consumption. It is understandable though, they are written for a very large audience. I enjoy the blogs and info sites that are more for my specific interests. I also frequent rotoworld which is an excellent national coverage blog/site with a fantasy sports slant but it is the place I go to first to get all news. Sometimes it is nice to get out of the local bubble and put some things into a greater context. Thanks for the interesting topic and keep up the great work, AD.

Thanks for the blog, and as always everything you do. I honestly read this more than the main articles about the Avalanche. I enjoy the side stories, inside scoop and speculation. That to me is what blogging is all about, to find your personal niche market. Gravitate toward the blogs that are written in a style and with content you enjoy. Sometimes main articles in the newspaper can feel sterile and fit for mass consumption. It is understandable though, they are written for a very large audience. I enjoy the blogs and info sites that are more for my specific interests. I also frequent rotoworld which is an excellent national coverage blog/site with a fantasy sports slant but it is the place I go to first to get all news. Sometimes it is nice to get out of the local bubble and put some things into a greater context. Thanks for the interesting topic and keep up the great work, AD.

The notion that things should be free is just plain ridiculous. Someone had to create the content. I have no problem with ads or a subscriber service like espn. Lets ask AJ from ABQ if he would like to do his job for free.

Things are not free on the internet. Someone is paying for it. It’s just naive and greedy to think you can get something for nothing.

The notion that things should be free is just plain ridiculous. Someone had to create the content. I have no problem with ads or a subscriber service like espn. Lets ask AJ from ABQ if he would like to do his job for free.

Things are not free on the internet. Someone is paying for it. It’s just naive and greedy to think you can get something for nothing.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.